As it says right on that page "Release-day delivery option may be available at checkout for most continental U.S. addresses." There's a link beside it that explains the details and it looks like you have to pay for that option, but it does seem possible. I'm ordering mine from amazon.ca since I have a gift card and it doesn't look like us Canucks have the same option, which sucks. They have some deal where they refund you if the price drops after you pre-order, but I'd rather be guaranteed to get it on release day.

Speaking from experience in expansions on both Lich King and Cataclysm, getting it on release day isn't THAT big of a deal.

I don't remember LK's launch all that well, being it was so long ago, but Cataclysm's... I remember the game being down until at least 5pm EST and even then it was hardly what I'd call "playable" from the crashes, and severe lag, to the scads and scads of people hogging quest mobs and how mobs were respawning faster than you could loot or skin them (remember that boat with all the snakes near it in Vashj'ir? lol. so many dead bodies not looted dropped my FPS down to <20, yet I can do 120FPS anywhere else).

More than likely, the first day of release is not going to be something that one should really feel bad about missing. So you get your CE (and all of the things that come with it) on the 26th... you miss out on what, 4-5 hours of being able to quest in Pandaria, or roll a Monk.

Unless you're after World/Realm Firsts... I wouldn't worry that much about it to be honest.

I ordered Lich King from Amazon. I got it around 4 in the afternoon the day of release. By the time I got it installed, got my add-ons sorted out, and started to explore Northrend, it was midnight. With Cata, I downloaded it directly from Blizz a month or so before, and had access at midnight on the release day. I'm downloading this expansion also.

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A reader lives a thousand lives, the man who never reads lives only one. - George R.R. Martin

Speaking from experience in expansions on both Lich King and Cataclysm, getting it on release day isn't THAT big of a deal.

I don't remember LK's launch all that well, being it was so long ago, but Cataclysm's... I remember the game being down until at least 5pm EST and even then it was hardly what I'd call "playable" from the crashes, and severe lag, to the scads and scads of people hogging quest mobs and how mobs were respawning faster than you could loot or skin them (remember that boat with all the snakes near it in Vashj'ir? lol. so many dead bodies not looted dropped my FPS down to <20, yet I can do 120FPS anywhere else).

More than likely, the first day of release is not going to be something that one should really feel bad about missing. So you get your CE (and all of the things that come with it) on the 26th... you miss out on what, 4-5 hours of being able to quest in Pandaria, or roll a Monk.

Unless you're after World/Realm Firsts... I wouldn't worry that much about it to be honest.

If you're like me and do most of your playing at night, you get a lot of server uptime once you wake up for that evening to get going. If you're even more like me, you might take a week's vacation* for the expansions, which means you really don't want to wait to the next day for your game.

*I didn't do so for this one, having just taken one to visit my sister and brother-in-law over the summer.

If you're like me and do most of your playing at night, you get a lot of server uptime once you wake up for that evening to get going. If you're even more like me, you might take a week's vacation* for the expansions, which means you really don't want to wait to the next day for your game.

IIRC...I think Cataclysm came out on a Tuesday, too? I didn't take the entire week off (I think) but did take that following Thurs and Friday to have a long weekend. That's what I'll probably do again this time. I'm just glad it's not in December when I need vacation days.

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A reader lives a thousand lives, the man who never reads lives only one. - George R.R. Martin